Homemade hamburger buns

I've never tried making my own hamburger buns before - I thought it'd be way too hard and that I'd end up with crusty bread, not at all suitable for burgers. So I'm glad I finally tried because I was totally wrong. It was very simple to make, and the result was fantastic. So much better than storebought bread! And perfect to go with juicy, home made burgers!

The photo shows the buns on the next day - after the second rise, I placed half the buns in the fridge - unbaked - and baked them the next morning for breakfast. I floured them instead of eggwashing. Great for breakfast too - and a good way to use up leftovers, because one batch makes way too many breads for one burger night. At least in our family.


My burgers - with cream cheese, cheddar, pickled onions and caramelized onions

Homemade hamburger buns

40 g yeast
500 ml milk (full-fat)
850 g strong bread flour (Vetemjöl Special in Sweden)
15 g salt
25 g sugar
50 g honey
75 g neutral oil (I use canola)

egg wash:
1 egg
pinch of salt
a few drops of water

Start by crumbling the yeast into a bowl. Add milk, and then flour, salt, sugar, honey and oil. Mix, and knead very well - I used my Kitchen-Aid for about 12 minutes. It'll be a pretty stiff dough. Cover the bowl with plastic, and leave to rise until doubled in size. Mine took about two hours.

Shape round buns. Mine were about 90 grams each, and were a little on the large side for the burgers we made (also about 90 grams). Place the buns, well-spaced, on a baking sheet and leave to rise, covered, for about an hour. At this point, you can move them into the fridge to bake off at another time, and I think you could probably freeze them too. (Haven't tried that, though!)

Make the egg wash - place the egg in a bowl, add a small pinch of salt and a little splash of water. Brush the buns with this. You could also sprinkle them with sesame seeds if you want to.

(Instead of egg wash, I just used some flour on my breakfast bread.)

Bake at 215°C for about 8-10 minutes.